My Town

Aptos: Body found matching description of missing Redwood City man

By Cathy Kelly, Santa Cruz Sentinel

Posted:
11/06/2012 12:44:05 PM PST

Updated:
11/06/2012 12:44:12 PM PST

APTOS - Search and rescue teams believe they found the body of a 74-year-old Redwood City man who went missing from a retreat center in the Aptos Hills Sunday morning, Santa Cruz County Sheriff's Office said.

A body matching the description of George Earl Sliter was found about 10 a.m. Tuesday at the bottom of a ravine above Cabrillo College, near the 600 block of Hudson Lane, deputy April Skalland said.

Coroner's deputies were still out investigating and Skalland said it is not yet clear how he died.

Sliter was with a group of church friends at Monte Toyon retreat center off Cathedral Drive and was reported missing after he didn't attend a 9:15 service Sunday, deputies said.

A full-scale search and rescue operation was launched Sunday and expanded Monday to include teams from neighboring counties, several K-9s, and search volunteers mounted on horses, motorcycles and a quad.

A team from Contra Costa County spotted the body, Skalland said.

"People are packing up now," she said, from a command post at Monte Toyon. "It's very somber up here."